Re: Doggie doors

["Robert Green" <ROBERT_GREEN1963@xxxxxxxxx>]

"Bill Kearney" <wkearney99@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:ee6dnZO3rbWV_eDYnZ2dnUVZ_qmpnZ2d@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> > Apparently the OP wants a solution that does not require future kirttens
> to defend their turf.  He seems interested in providing a
> > technology-based solution to allow resident critters in while keeping
> alien-critters out.
>
> Heh, I recall someone that cobbled up a pet recognition setup using a
> camera.  Apparently the profile of his kitty was distinguishable enough
from
> the local varmints to make it practical.  Don't recall the website
though...

I'm pretty sure it was mentioned here in CHA - anyone interested can
probably find in through Google Groups.  Oh heck, I'll do it:

http://brianlivingston.com/ebiz/article/02/03/26/020328opsecrets_1.html

WACKY WEB WEEK: HIGH-TECH PET DOOR ADMITS CATS, NOT MICE

This falls into the CATegory of, "I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't
seen it on my own computer." Quantum Picture, a home-based image processing
business, had a problem. Its cat, Flo, kept bringing live mice and birds
through the cat door in order to play with its prey inside for hours.

Quantum's solution? They built an image-processing system that can recognize
whether the cat has anything in its mouth. The cat door won't open if that's
the case.

This is a fascinating experiment in using image-recognition software for
benign purposes. I myself have the exact same cat door model in my own home
(unmodified, of course). So I can attest that something like this project
is, in fact, possible.

You may not need to spot terrorists out of a Super Bowl crowd at 100 paces.
But Quantum's Web site -- complete with three small AVI files that show its
system at work -- is worth a look just for the ingenuity of it all. Oh, by
the way, the name of the project: Flo Control.

IMAGE PROCESSING RUNS PET DOOR AND KEEPS NUISANCES OUT

http://www.quantumpicture.com http://bri.li/?c384

(I just checked, it's still there at the above URL)

--
Bobby G.